BOCC orders Facebook meeting livestreams restored after public backlash

BRADENTON — Manatee County Commissioners delayed an administrative action Tuesday, moving to restore the local government’s meeting livestream to Facebook until staff provides a presentation on the matter. Manatee County Government announced two days ago that, in an effort to reduce “unnecessary duplication” and save money, commission meetings would no longer be livestreamed on Facebook and would instead return to their previous YouTube-only venue.

The Sunday Facebook post began, “To streamline our meeting broadcasts and eliminate the unnecessary duplication of streaming the same content simultaneously on two platforms, Manatee County will now stream public meetings exclusively on YouTube…. Comments will remain turned off on YouTube due to the substantial cost associated with properly capturing and archiving them as public records.” Before providing instructions on how citizens could submit official public comment to the commission. 

Manatee County Commission and Manatee County Planning Commission videos have been livestreamed and archived on the government’s YouTube channel since at least 2015. However, after new commissioners were seated following the 2024 local elections, including the late Commissioner Carol Ann Felts, the board majority moved to reverse two highly unpopular actions related to public engagement: reinstating social media commenting and restoring citizens’ ability to call in to a meeting to provide public comment.

Felts, who was a longtime vocal advocate for the importance of citizens’ civic engagement and the government’s role in increasing access to public information so that citizens could be informed participants, pushed for the meeting videos to be made available on Facebook as they had been on YouTube.  

Sunday’s announcement drew criticism from Facebook users, who left more than 100 comments on the post, with some saying they relied on the platform not only to watch or listen to meetings but also to participate in the comment sections and engage with other citizens. In a comment on its own post, Manatee County further explained that while YouTube livestreams would remain available, the comment section would remain disabled. The county said archiving social media comments on those livestreams would cost taxpayers an additional $6,500 per year, a cost it said would continue to increase over time.

District 1 BOCC candidate Liz Arnold addressed commissioners during public comments on future agenda items at Tuesday’s meeting, questioning the decision to end the Facebook livestreams and asking the county to reconsider.

“You shut down one of the places where citizens were talking to each other. You eliminated Facebook streaming, and you’ve turned off the comments on YouTube,” Arnold continued. “And please don’t tell people that they simply can come down here and speak for three minutes. Not everyone can. People work, people have children, people care for elderly parents, some are elderly and/or disabled themselves.”

Following public comments, Commissioner Jason Bearden requested an explanation from the county administrator regarding the decision to end livestreaming of meetings on the government’s Facebook page.

County Administrator Charlie Bishop began by reminding commissioners that, during a recent briefing, staff had informed them that the change was in the public’s best interest due to associated costs and public-records retention requirements. Bishop then invited the Director of Government Relations, Stephanie Garrison, to further explain the basis for the decision.

“We made the decision, and we wanted to wait until after the primary election; that was another intentional decision,” Garrison said.

Garrison provided additional details, explaining that, in an effort to streamline operations, her department determined YouTube was a superior streaming platform to Facebook. She also said the county’s current software for archiving public records of text communications would incur additional costs if the comment feature were enabled on YouTube, as it had been on Facebook. According to Garrison, the cost would be roughly $6,600 per year to enable and archive comments on YouTube.

After some dialogue, Bearden offered, “I don’t know that this is a good idea to say we are not going to spend $6,000 a year when we spend millions of dollars a year on things that are—in my opinion—things that we probably shouldn’t have spent money on.”

Administrator Bishop pushed back, emphasizing that the decision was less about the cost—although that was a factor—than about the requirement to archive all public records for three to five years. According to Bishop, those requirements would include archiving public discussion in the form of written comments on social media livestreams.

Bishop further explained that archiving online comments also meant producing those records if they were responsive to a public-records request. Such requests, he said, meant the county would “have to expend staff to find those records and produce them.”

Bearden remained unsatisfied with the answers from Bishop and Garrison, reminding the board that Florida’s public-records law allows the county to charge a fee for producing public records when a request requires extensive staff time to locate, collect, or review the records.

When Commissioner Bob McCann later pressed Garrison to elaborate on her comment about intentionally waiting until after the primary election to announce the change, Garrison acknowledged an internal understanding that the decision might not be well received by the public.

“We intentionally waited because we knew that potentially this could be unpopular,” Garrison said.

Her explanation drew audible shock and laughter from citizens seated in the chambers, prompting Chairman Tal Siddique to tap the gavel and call for order.

Garrison continued, “Sometimes you have to do the unpopular thing when it’s the right thing to do for the government and for its people.”

Garrison, who is relatively new to the public sector, joined Manatee County Government in Jan. 2025, hired to serve as director of the then-newly created Government Relations Department. Before joining the county, Garrison spent 14 years in the private sector, holding various positions with Apple. Her resume also includes ownership of the Playtri Sarasota Bike Shop and Triathlon Store, as well as a two-month stint as a senior legislative aide to Sen. Joe Gruters from December 2024 to January 2025.

As Siddique was recognized to speak, Bearden simultaneously attempted to move to reverse the administrative decision regarding the Facebook livestreams. The exchange quickly turned into a procedural debate over who had the floor and what was required before the board could vote on an item that was not on the agenda. The disagreement grew heated, prompting Siddique to call for a recess.

Once the meeting reconvened, the two commissioners appeared to have settled their procedural disagreement, and Bearden eventually moved to amend the meeting’s agenda to add an item reinstating Facebook livestreams.

Ahead of the vote, Siddique offered his opinion.

“Terrible rollout,” he said. “I think this could have gone way better. I also think the underlying issue is not being addressed. There is a valid point about public engagement, but it’s not just picking a platform and hoping it works. It’s about verifying that the data supports whether the engagement works. I haven’t seen that, because it’s not on the agenda.”

The amendment to add the item to the board's discussion and consideration passed unanimously, with Commissioner George Kruse absent.

After further discussion, some commissioners remained uncomfortable with the administrative action and agreed that additional information would be helpful before making a final decision on social media livestreaming and the archiving of live comments. The board then directed staff to restore Facebook livestreams, including live comments, until staff returns with additional information and/or data regarding the service’s value for public engagement. Staff was directed to prepare a presentation on the topic for a board meeting scheduled for next week.

The motion passed 5-0, with Kruse absent. Shortly after Tuesday’s vote, the meeting livestream reappeared on Facebook, in accordance with the board’s direction.